Former Pupils Lay Foundations for Future Generations

It was a reunion with a difference as representative Head Girls and School Captains of Bolton School gathered on Wednesday 12 December to lay the Foundation Stone for the new £7m Sixth Form Centre. The building, which will be ready for occupation at the start of the Autumn Term of 2013, has received substantial funding from alumni of the School. The Sixth Form Centre will be named after the campaign’s lead benefactor, Ian Riley, an Old Boy who was a pupil from 1974-1981.

The Sixth Form Centre will sit in the heart of the campus and will be used for relaxation and for study by over 400 students from the Girls’ Division and the Boys’ Division Sixth Forms. Sixth Form teaching in single-sex groups will continue to take place in the two Divisions. Students from both Divisions will, however, have the opportunity to come together during breaks and study periods in the new Centre. It will include a common room to be named the Warburton Room after a benefactor, a refectory café, an ICT suite, seminar rooms, study areas, exhibition space and the main school reception. Architecturally, the glass and sandstone elliptical building will provide a stunning contrast to the School's Neo-Gothic façade and turrets. It will link to the main building with two-storey glazed walkways.

The building of the Sixth Form Centre marks the fourth stage in a building programme which has seen the construction of a new Infant School, a new Junior Girls' School and a refurbishment and extension of the Junior Boys' School.

The Sixth Form Centre was designed by Cassidy and Ashton Architects and is being built by Seddons.

Share or bookmark with:

Mr Michael Griffiths, Chairman of Governors, is aided by former and current Head Girls and School Captains and principle donors in laying the foundation stone of the new Sixth Form Centre (click on the photo to enlarge it)

At 12 minutes past 12 on the 12th day of the 12th month of 2012, Reverend Christopher Smith (Head Boy in 1948) and Judith Todd (Head Girl in 1956) helped position the foundation stone

Mr Michael Griffiths with current Head Girl Heather Harrison and School Captain Adam Woolley